Symmetric Design Cycle

Nigel Cross is one of the first researchers to study design, is the editor of the journal Design Studies, and teaches at the UK's Open University. His book Engineering Design Methods is a great introduction to the culture of engineering design and its varied techniques.

Look over Cross' Symmetric Design Cycle to the right. You may see it as having two levels of description -- an overview of the kind of problem being addressed appears in the model's outer border. THe inner circle shows strategies that could be used in any order to work any of the problem spaces found on the perimeter.